Can I just buy some fruit and put it in the refrigerator? (middle)

However, she reminded that fruits that are not yet fully ripe and cannot be eaten immediately should not be refrigerated immediately, otherwise they will become what is commonly known as "dumb", that is, the fruits will remain unripe due to low temperature damage, and even if they are moved to room temperature, they will quickly rot. Take avocado as an example. It is not ripe until the skin turns black. If it is put in the refrigerator when the skin is still green, it will not be fully ripe. Even if you take it out of the refrigerator and move it to room temperature to remedy the situation, its taste will have deteriorated and it will rot quickly.

After you bring the fruit home, you should restore it to the state it was in when you bought it as soon as possible. For example, if the fruit is icy when you buy it, it means it has been refrigerated and you should put it in the refrigerator as soon as possible after you bring it home. If you bought it at room temperature, wait until the heat dissipates and the fruit is ripe before refrigerating it. Li Jijin said that in summer, special attention should be paid to the problem of heat dissipation of fruits, otherwise the fruits will be damaged because they cannot dissipate heat and are immediately exposed to a low temperature environment.

Paper or plastic bag?

When refrigerating fruits, lowering the ambient temperature and maintaining humidity are the key to storing fruits. If fruits are placed in the refrigerator without being processed, they will lose water. Chen Ruyin said that home refrigerators have no humidity control, and the food put in them can easily dehydrate, which can be judged by whether the fruits are plump and full. Therefore, it is best to wrap fruits in plastic bags when storing them in the refrigerator to prevent them from losing water during storage.

Paper absorbs water. When fruits enter and leave the cold storage, condensation will form on the surface of the fruits due to the temperature difference. This condensation is not conducive to the storage of fruits. Therefore, wrapping them with paper can help absorb the condensation. Fruits with tender skin are first wrapped with paper and then with plastic bags to avoid damage to the skin caused by condensation. Some fruits and vegetables that are prone to cold damage are often wrapped with paper first, because cold damage makes the skin's resistance weak, which can reduce the damage caused by condensation.

Most people no longer use newspapers to wrap food because of ink. Housekeeping expert Chen Yingru suggests using paper bags provided by fast food restaurants to regulate moisture, and then adding a layer of plastic bags on the outside. This will not only avoid ink problems, but the paper bags are three-dimensional and can save refrigerator space.

Li Jijin proposed a more convenient "plastic bag hole method", which is to just use a plastic bag to pack the fruit. The key is to poke a few small holes to allow the fruit to breathe. Just like the fruits sold in supermarkets, they will also have several small holes on their outer packaging to make it convenient for consumers to buy them home and refrigerate them directly.

But how can we store “bulky” fruits to save space? Chen Yingru said that summer is the season when watermelons are in season, and many people will cover the leftover watermelons with plastic wrap and refrigerate them, as they are less likely to spoil than if they are cut into pieces. However, she reminded that it is best not to let plastic wrap come into direct contact with food, so she would still cut the watermelon into pieces and put them into a fresh-keeping box and eat them as soon as possible to ensure their safety. Generally speaking, whole fruits have a longer storage period when refrigerated. Once they are cut into small pieces, their tissues are severely damaged and easily breed microorganisms, so their storage period is significantly shortened to only a few hours or days. When handling cut fruit, pay special attention to the hygiene of the cutting board and your hands to avoid contamination of the fruit. (to be continued)

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